PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Administrative Core (AC) of the proposed COBRE Center for Neurodegeneration and Translational Neuroscience (CNTN) will advance the goals of the CNTN to establish a multidisciplinary sustainable research environment, advance junior investigators by preparing them for independent research careers, and improve understanding of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The CNTN is based on a coalition between the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health (LRCBH) in Las Vegas, NV and the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). Both institutions are making substantial commitments to this enterprise including recruiting an imaging specialist to the LRCBH and establishing an Institute for Quantitative Health Sciences at UNLV, which will make statistical expertise available to the CNTN. The AC provides the vision and leadership, oversees daily activities, insures the interaction of cores and projects, facilitates the development of junior faculty, follows expenditures and budgetary commitments, organizes the meetings of the Internal and External Advisory Committees as well as the Steering Committee, documents that all reporting requirements are met, and follows the summative and formative assessments to insure that the goals of the CNTN and the junior investigators are being achieved. The CNTN will be led by Dr. Jeffrey Cummings, an experienced investigator with over 20 years of continuous P50 funding while at UCLA, prior to becoming director of the LRCBH and the proposed CNTN. The AC will oversee the cores (total 3) and projects (total 3) of the CNTN and will facilitate the formative and summative assessments that provide the metrics of the center and the junior investigators. The AC has a well-planned mentoring program for all junior investigators including a local scientific mentor and a specialist scientific mentor. The AC will provide an annual research training course taught by faculty members of the LRCBH and UNLV, and will inaugurate outreach activities to inform the academic community of the availability of CNTN resources. The AC will plan the transition of the CNTN to independent and sustainable funding through Phase II COBRE to other grant mechanisms.